What do you get for the man who has everything?
by peacerose47
Summary: Kathryn wants to give Chakotay a gift she knows he'll love
1. Chapter 1

The ground levelled off beneath his feet and Chakotay stood at the top of the plateau, gazing out across the lush planet below. He squeezed the hand that was tightly gripping his. "Look, Kathryn. We made it!"

"Oh good." With a groan, she let go of his hand and collapsed onto the hard ground. "I am never going hiking with you again."

"It's not even that big, Kathryn. You're overreacting."

"Too. Big."

"Look, you can see half the planet from up here!" With his dimples in full force, he looked back at his companion, who was sitting on the ground with a scowl on her face and massaging the tenderness out of her legs.

"Come look at the view, Kathryn. That'll make it all worth it."

"I'm not sure I trust my legs to hold my weight for a while," she grumbled.

Without a second thought, he leaned down beside her and scooped her up in her arms, earning himself a surprised shout right next to his ear. Kathryn wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders.

"Well this is a little taller than I'm used to being," she chuckled. "Don't you dare drop me!"

He was right, though. The view was spectacular. Breathing deeply of the crisp, cool breeze, they looked out over the alien terrain which was dotted with the yellow and blue uniforms of the other away teams. Most of them had been very eager to volunteer for a chance to stretch their legs and breathe non-recycled air. Feeling a touch of cabin fever herself, Kathryn couldn't blame them.

"Going down," Chakotay said suddenly. He set Kathryn lightly on her feet. "I brought lunch if you're hungry."

"After that hike? I'm famished!"

After handing Kathryn the sandwiches he had made for them, Chakotay took his holo-imager out of his pack and focused it on the view around them. A flock of large birds perched in a tree below. _Snap._ A group of yellow-shouldered crewmembers gathered in and around a canyon where Lieutenant Torres was leading mining operations. _Snap._ A small but hardly plant growing nearby, the size of a small violet, with a tiny blue flower waving in the wind. _Snap._

Kathryn, sitting cross-legged on the ground with an enormous flask beside her and a steaming mug clasped in her hands, her eyes closed in blissful satisfaction.

 _Snap._

"Trust you to remember the coffee," he said, stowing his camera back in his pack.

"There's containers of milk and sugar in there with the extra cup."

Quietly pleased by her thoughtfulness, he felt around in her bag for the promised items, but instead came up with a small bundle loosely wrapped in blue paper.

"What's this?" he asked, turning the package over in his hands.

"I know the wrapping isn't great – god knows I never could copy my mother's deft touch with the paper – but you never miss my birthday, so I wanted to give you something."

"I told you not to go to any trouble on my account."

"You always say that and I always ignore you." He carefully unwrapped the bundle in his lap and held up the item inside. "But, I'm starting to run out of gift ideas," Kathryn admitted.

"A scarf?" he asked, fingering the soft yarn.

"It was either that or socks."

"Socks? Why socks?"

Kathryn shrugged. "Well, what else am I supposed to get for the man who has everything?"

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"Hey! I made that myself!"

"And you did a beautiful job. I'm just saying you don't have to waste your replicator rations on-"

His words were lost as her slender hands came up to cup his face and his lips became locked in a searing kiss. Time slowed and the moment stretched out, until eventually both were forced to come up for breath. The taste of coffee lingered on his lips. His hands found their way around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Is that my real present?" he asked softly.

"If you want it." Her finger gently brushed the lines of his tattoo, and her breath tickled his cheek.

"I want much more than just a kiss," he said, hoping he was reading her right. If that wasn't what she was offering and he scared her away….

"How about staying for breakfast?" The corner of her mouth quirked up in the beginning of a smile.

"Only if I replicate the food."

"Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

Bright strings of colourful lights sparkled throughout the house, glinting off the silvery bauble in Chakotay's hands as he carefully hung it onto the tree. The cheerful strains of Christmas music accompanied his work, ringing out from the kitchen along with Gretchen's husky voice. It was the same off-key singing that often emanated from the bathroom when Kathryn was in the shower. Like mother, like daughter.

They had only been home a few weeks by now, but Chakotay had immediately felt welcomed and accepted by Kathryn's family. Arriving in the Alpha Quadrant in early December, Kathryn was thrilled to be able to have "a real Janeway family Christmas" once more at her mother's Indiana home.

Chakotay took another ornament out of the large packing box and unwrapped it from its tissue-paper covering. "Where does this one go?" he asked.

Kathryn peeked out from the other side of the large evergreen tree. "Ah! There it is! That goes right up the top there. You'll have to get that because I can't reach."

So the golden star found its place on the highest branch of the tree.

"I don't think there's room for any more ornaments," Chakotay said, standing back to observe their handiwork.

"Oh, but there is," Kathryn replied. "There's just enough room for the best ones."

Digging deep into the box, she pulled out several bubble-wrapped packages and handed them to him. "Mom made these," she explained, "and they're my favorite ones."

Slowly undoing the layers of plastic – and popping some of the bubbles along the way – he unveiled a glass bauble with beautifully painted patterns of pink swirls and flowers framing the name 'Phoebe'. Kathryn held up another, with gold swirls and hearts around the name 'Edward'.

"There's one for each of us," she said. "Mom painted the first ones for Dad as an anniversary gift, and then one each for me and Phoebe when we were born. And then for Phoebe's husband. And then for Phoebe's son. She'll probably make one for you before long, if she hasn't already."

The next one Chakotay found had purple patterns around Kathryn's name, and he found a place for the ornament at the front of the tree.

When they finished hanging the last one, they stood back and admired their work. Chakotay put an arm around Kathryn's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Beautiful decorations, wonderful food, fantastic company…. I think I could learn to like Christmas."

"It's my favorite time of the year. I always got so excited about it as a child."

"Now there's an interesting mental image – young Kathryn Janeway. Let me guess, red pigtails, freckles, and a quantum mechanics padd practically glued to your hand?"

"Not far off, actually." Kathryn disentangled herself from his embrace, and began to scout around the couch cushions. "Now, we normally save presents for Christmas morning, but – where the hell did I put it? Ah. – but I wanted to give this to you now." She presented him with a small package wrapped loosely in silver paper and tied with gold curling ribbon.

He grinned. "I was actually going to give you an early gift too," he said. Her eyes lit up with curiosity. He patted his pocket where he could feel the tiny, velvet box nestled safely inside. "Later."

He untied the ribbon from the bundle in his hands, then the paper fell away and he found himself holding a pair of woollen socks.

Socks which matched exactly a certain scarf he had once received.

He looked at her suspiciously. "Socks?"

"For the man who has everything, remember?"

"I already have you, Love. What more could I want?"

Kathryn shrugged, her eyes still glinting with mischief. Chakotay picked up one of the socks to examine it more closely, and he felt something inside it. Aware of Kathryn's eyes on him, he wriggled his hand inside the sock to retrieve the object inside. It was an old-fashioned photograph. A very dark and blurry photograph.

"What is it?" he asked.

"A photo."

"I know that. What's it a picture of?"

"It's a picture the Doctor gave me a few days ago."

"Of?"

"Our baby."

Seated at the kitchen table, painting Chakotay's name onto a bauble and singing happily along to "Deck the Halls", Gretchen was suddenly startled by the loudest whoop of joy she had ever heard.


End file.
